This invention relates generally to surgical suturing instruments and more particularly to surgical suturing instruments of the type used to place and secure sutures having ferrules attached to the free ends thereof hereinafter xe2x80x9cferrule-tipped suturesxe2x80x9d and more particularly to apparatus and a method for loading sutures into such instruments.
Surgical suturing instruments have been developed that can place sutures remotely in laproscopic or endoscopic procedures. The instruments vary in construction but generally include a suturing tip located at the distal end of an elongated rigid or flexible shaft. The suturing tip has one or more needles, usually two, that can be passed across a gap through a tissue section, in a process sometimes referred to as xe2x80x9ctaking a bite,xe2x80x9d engage a ferrule-tipped suture end and pull the end back through the tissue section so that the suture engages the tissue. The process is repeated at a second location and the suture is secured to bring the tissue sections into apposition.
While surgical suturing instruments of the type just described are normally designed for disposal after use in a single procedure, they can be used multiple times during a procedure by reloading a new ferrule-tipped suture into the instrument and repeating the securing process.
Most commonly, the ferrule-tipped suture ends are disposed in cavities or recesses in the end of instrument and the center loop of suture material is disposed in a channel or passage in the instrument shaft and handle. Depending on the design of the instrument and the nature of the procedure in which it is used, the overall length of the ferrule-tipped suture may be several feet making it difficult or impossible to manually load a suture into a surgical suturing instrument.
Briefly stated and in accordance with a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, a quick loader for a surgical suturing instrument of the type having at least one ferrule receiving chamber and a suture receiving passage, includes a loader body having a recess formed therein for receiving an end of a surgical suturing instrument, a seat adjacent the recess for releasably holding at least one ferrule-tipped end of a suture in the seat, the seat being aligned and adjacent to a ferrule receiving chamber in the suturing instrument when the instrument is positioned in the recess, for permitting the transfer of the ferrules from the seat on the loader into the ferrule receiving chamber.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the loader includes a flexible tube having one end received in the loader body and holding a length of suture therein.
In accordance with still another aspect of the invention, the loader includes a channel in the loader body aligned with the suture receiving passage in the surgical suturing receiving instrument when the instrument is positioned in the recess to permit the entry of an end of the tube through the channel and into the suture receiving passage.
In accordance with still another aspect of the invention, the loader includes a slideable clip in the loader body for retaining the surgical suturing instrument in the recess.
A method for loading a suture into a surgical suturing instrument in accordance with this invention includes loading a center loop of a length of suture material into a flexible tube with the ends of the suture extending from one end of the tube, inserting the flexible tube into one end of a suture receiving passage in a surgical suturing instrument and out of a second end of the passage, and pulling the tube through the passage and off the center loop of the suture leaving the suture disposed in the passage.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a method for loading a suture in a surgical suturing instrument of the type having at least one ferrule-receiving chamber and a suture receiving passage includes the steps of positioning an end of the surgical suturing instrument in a chamber of a quick loader body carrying at least one end of a suture having a ferrule attached thereto in a seat aligned with and adjacent to the ferrule receiving chamber, inserting a flexible tube carrying a loop of the center loop suture into and through the suture receiving passage, withdrawing the flexible tube leaving the loop of suture in place in the suture receiving passage and transferring the ferrule-tipped end of the suture into the ferrule receiving chamber.
In accordance with another aspect of the method of this invention, the transferring step includes the step of pulling on the center of the suture loop for drawing the ferrule from the seat in the loader and into the aligned ferrule receiving chamber in the instrument to seat the ferrule in the ferrule receiving chamber.
The novel aspects of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself together with further objects and advantages thereof may be more readily comprehended by reference to the following detailed description of a presently embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which: